Stoneham, MA (July 2006). Adimec announced that they provided the high-resolution cameras which were utilized on the orbital boom sensor system (OBSS) of the Discovery Space Shuttle mission STS-121. “Adimec’s cameras are known for their image quality, reliability and durability, and we were happy to be involved with such a mission-critical application with NASA,” said Jay Rice, Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Adimec in North America.

Adimec provided multiple high-performance cameras to NASA which were coupled to a Pleora iPort IP™ engine to enable high-resolution images to be streamed to a laptop inside the shuttle over a standard Ethernet link. The imaging system was mounted at the end of the space shuttle’s 50-foot robotic arm. The crew were able to control the camera via the engine as they carefully inspected the shuttle’s thermal protection system. These images were analyzed for fine details such as the gap filler between tiles, to assess potential damage and overall shuttle safety. The Discovery flight was the most photographed shuttle mission ever, with more than 100 high-definition, digital, video, and film cameras documenting the launch and climb to orbit.

The selection of the high-resolution cameras required that the products be commercialoff-the-shelf (COTS). However, the cameras also needed to offer enough durability and performance to provide flawless images in the void of space and on the space shuttle, the most complex machine ever built. “Adimec has a long history supporting the US military and demanding medical and machine vision applications so we were quite pleased to be selected as the camera supplier for NASA’s most advanced shuttle imager and to have our product performance satisfy the rigorous requirements of NASA,” said Jay Rice.

The Space Shuttle Discovery and its crew landed on July 17, 2006 after a 13-day, five million-mile journey in space. The mission succeeded in testing shuttle safety improvements, repairing a rail car on the International Space Station and producing never-before-seen, detailed images of the shuttle during and after its July 4th launch.

About AdimecAdimec has specialized in development and manufacturing of high-performance cameras and partnering with major OEMs around the world since 1992. The company has the distinction of serving industry leading companies in three application areas; machine vision, medical, and defense imaging. Adimec’s unique experience facilitates the creation of industry-leading cameras that deliver a performance advantage to highend systems.

Adimec achieves long-term customer satisfaction by offering a unique combination of product configuration/performance, life cycle management, and total cost of ownership.

Adimec has offices around the world focused on creating customer value and satisfaction through local, personalized support.

About PleoraPleora Technologies is the world’s leading supplier of Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) imaging solutions. Pleora’s iPORT™ and eBUS™ products stream imaging data over low-cost GigE connections with very high performance, while at the same time giving vision systems long-distance reach, scaleable processing, flexible networking, and unmatched ease of use. Pleora is headquartered in Ottawa, Canada.